Eddy planckaert wood bicycle trailer

Eddy Planckaert lives in a tepee in the woods. That was the rumour I heard in 2006. Planckaert was as tough as any competitor when he raced, but his soul and spirit were different.

Living with Native Americans, experimenting with transcendental meditation and out of body experiences were two of many things he wanted to try.

Eddy planckaert wood bicycle trailer

Living in the woods, in a tepee; yeah, that sounded about right.

I tracked him down through a mutual friend, Albert Beurick, a name familiar to the many Brits who raced in Belgium in the 1960s and beyond.

Planckaert was living deep in the Ardennes forest, and he had a tepee. “It’s just for the summer though,” he told me after Albert and I navigated the steep stony track to where he lived with his big boisterous family in a basic log cabin.

It was the only place they could afford, although throughout our interview Planckaert stressed that he was enjoying the experience.

Fact is he’d lost most of the money he’d ever made win